Despite being one of the smallest liberal arts colleges in the country, William Jewell College has long been a well-regarded institution in the Kansas City area. This reputation is due not only to its high academic standards but also to its athletic prowess: nearly two-thirds of Jewell’s students participate in sports, making athletics a central part of student life and recruitment. 

However, the 2025-2026 academic year began under unusual circumstances. After years of financial difficulties, Jewell declared financial exigency during the 2024-2025 academic year, a rare and serious measure that reflects the severity of the challenges facing the institution. Although the administration emphasized that the situation remained manageable, the announcement plunged the university community into a state of heightened uncertainty.

For student-athletes, the impact is particularly pronounced. As the school was reevaluating financial priorities, the possibility of reshaping athletics and cutting specific programs seemed very real. As a result, the student athlete experience now oscillates between relative stability on the field and constant questions off it.

Jewell student athletes have always had to deal with busy schedules and high expectations, but in the spring semester of 2025, these pressures intensified. The athletic medical staff made a controversial proposal to increase student secondary insurance fees (special insurance for athletes designed to cover the remaining medical expenses related to sports injuries) by an additional $350 for student athletes. Although this fee was intended to protect players’ health and ensure they had medical coverage, it was perceived by many student athletes as an additional financial burden, particularly when combined with rising tuition fees and a temporary freeze on scholarships. In other words, no athlete will see their scholarship increased for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Compounding this unease, a wave of athletes transferred out of Jewell during the last semester. For those who remained, one question lingers at every practice and every game: What will athletics at Jewell look like next semester? Softball, for example, has faced one of the most visible challenges. The team’s head coach resigned at the end of last semester, leaving players in a precarious situation as the season approaches. However, the administration took an unusual and refreshing step: it directly involved the players in the interview process for hiring a new coach. Indeed, the players will have a say on the final hiring decision. This level of athlete involvement is rare at the university level and marks a significant shift toward greater student participation in program decisions.

Although the declaration of financial exigency cast a shadow over the athletic department, it also reignited crucial debates about transparency, resource allocation, and the future of sports at Jewell. The story of Jewell softball highlights the vulnerability of sports at small universities, where limited resources make athletic programs particularly sensitive to personnel changes and enrollment fluctuations. However, Jewell’s willingness to involve players in decision-making could also pave the way for new models of resilience.

For now, the semester seems too short to judge whether athletics at Jewell will emerge stronger or even more fragile. But what is clear is that the student-athlete experience at William Jewell is being reshaped, in real time, by the financial crossroads at which the university finds itself.

Photo by William Jewell College via LinkedIn.

Over the weekend of March 14, the William Jewell Speech and Debate team competed at the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence  (NPTE)and became the new national champions. Third years, Patrick Terry and Trent Dixon, spent the academic year competing against some of the most renowned debate teams in the country. For Terry and Dixon, their previous summer was filled with preparing to compete against the country’s best and they walked away as the first William Jewell National Champions since 2007. Both will be returning to the team next year as seniors and are hoping to look at an undefeated season. 

“We are hoping to maintain our NPTE championship,” Terry said.

They are wanting to make the community of debate more welcoming . Parliamentary is an impromptu style of debate that gives the competitor 30 minutes to prepare for the entire round. Once the round begins, the teams aren’t allowed to engage in research or search through their files. Therefore, the competitors have to be prepared for any possible outcome. This skill set can take months to years to master, and many debaters can still struggle with this version of the event. As stressful as this may seem for those just starting, Terry explained that the upperclassmen are always ready to help. 

“We love coaching just as much as competing,” Terry said. “It helps build a spirit of success.” 

With the season now at a close, the duo is now looking forward and focusing on what is to come. They have already started to concentrate more effort into the team building and structuring it for next year. William Jewell is continuing to find ways to support its students with the resources they need but the team’s passion has never stemmed from obtaining money. Terry described their feelings for debate as a “love for the game” and something that he wants to grow more in the upcoming months. 

“We have a dedicated team and a great staff,” Terry said.“It’s a great way to build a community.” 

As the team known as Jewell DT, or team Dixon and Terry, goes into its last year at the college, debate teams all across the country are ready to see what they accomplish next. With a winning streak hot on their heels, Terry and Dixon are excited to see what comes next for their debate careers. 

“We are hoping for an undefeated season next year,” Terry reiterated “That would be the dream.” 
The team plans to hold on to their coveted title earned with unwavering dedication in the year to come. With this spotlight being shone on the William Jewell Debate Team, the hope is that they can continue to grow and high school students will continue to come after hearing about the program. Head coach, Mason Remaley, will continue to lead the team next year and, through the dedication of Terry and Dixon, the college is able to add another national championship under its belt and expand its horizons once again.

This is the first article from The Hilltop Monitor addressing recent academic, athletic and personnel changes to William Jewell College. More stories may be published as the Cardinal community receives more information.

On Feb. 3, 2025, the president and Board of Trustees of William Jewell College announced changes to the academic and athletic profile of the College. Jewell’s declaration of financial exigency enabled an internal financial exigency management committee and the Board of Trustees to address the College’s financial situation by sharply reducing its faculty, staff and academic programs.

The College’s Board of Trustees approved the proposed changes on Jan. 22. Some of these changes include the following.

Creation of academic divisions

All majors and academic programs have been reorganized into five new Academic Divisions:

1. Business and Communication 
2. Behavioral and Natural Sciences
3. Analytical Science
4. Community Engagement and Applied Arts
5. Culture, Society and Justice

Regarding the new Academic Divisions, emails to students from faculty members have informed them that faculty members “remain dedicated to providing [them] exceptional opportunities” to help students achieve their goals, and that faculty will continue to “assist [students] in [their] academic and professional success.” 

Further details about what this academic shake-up means for students are unclear at this time. 

Phasing out of programs

Additionally, the College has chosen to phase out certain majors and other programs.

On the academic side, the College has chosen to phase out Nonprofit Leadership, Healthcare Leadership, Integrated Healthcare, Theatre, and Musical Theatre. This means that the College will not be allowing new students into these majors, and has ceased recruitment for Theatre programs.

The discontinuations will not take effect until next fall, so students graduating in May 2025 are unaffected by these changes. For students graduating after May 2025, the College has told students that “teach-out planning is underway to ensure currently enrolled students can complete their major as planned.” 

Higher Learning Commission (HLC) guidelines permit teach-out plans. However, provisional plans submitted to the HLC must provide a “fair and equitable” plan to students and “[provide] students with reasonable opportunities to complete their education without additional charges” (emphasis added). In other words, students currently enrolled at Jewell must be able to graduate with their current degree program at the same cost as before.

The reduction in majors and programs offered is being accompanied by other reductions across the College. The Honors Institute in Critical Thinking, the Cardinal Sound athletic band, and French language courses are all being discontinued. (Note that Jewell does not currently offer French as a major, only Applied French as a minor; the Honors Institute is not a major either). The effects of these removals are currently unclear.

Across all these changes, the College notes that “[s]tudents in impacted programs have been engaged by faculty and leadership to learn more and plan.”

College administrators also clarified that all athletic programs are continuing through the spring as planned. With that said, it is unknown which athletic programs will persist into the next academic year. The College is currently convening “an athletics task force” that “is working to complete the new vision for Cardinal Athletics before the end of the academic year.” Cardinal Athletics have not yet provided details of this change.

Faculty and staff layoffs

Despite savings from these removals, the financial exigency committee chose to lay off many faculty and staff. Hilltop calculations using Department of Education data suggest that 20-30% of the College faculty have been laid off. The College’s declaration of financial exigency in Dec. 2024 enabled it to remove any or all faculty, including faculty members with tenure, as part of the restructuring process. Without the declaration of financial exigency, tenured faculty could not otherwise be dismissed in this manner.

Ultimately, 45 faculty and staff lost employment with the College. These included 13 retirements and resignations, and the involuntary removal of 14 faculty and 18 staff members. College administrators claim that they are “grateful to faculty for engaging in meaningful ways in this process to ensure Jewell’s relevance,” and assure the Cardinal community that Jewell is still a “leading higher education institution.” 

Two Cabinet members will also leave the College. Vice President for Access and Engagement Dr. Rodney Smith will voluntarily be leaving the College and Jewell’s page emphasizing its commitment to diversity is currently down. The current vice president for academic affairs, Dr. Daniel Jasper, has accepted a position as provost of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

As of the time of publication, it is still unclear what people and what positions have been terminated by the College. However, it seems that many beloved members of the Jewell Community are either no longer working at the College or will not be returning next fall; this includes employees who have worked at Jewell for years and, in some cases, even decades.

Impacts on the bottom line

As a non-profit receiving public funding, William Jewell College is required to publish IRS form 990, which guarantees some degree of financial transparency. Its most recent filing indicates that the College lost $12 million in the fiscal year ending June 2023. In the same year, an internal audit identified a “deficiency in internal financial or governance controls that could inhibit the College’s ability to ensure compliance with federal regulations” or to “track and report financial data reliably.”

That said, a Feb. 3 letter to the Cardinal community notes that after implementing these changes, “Jewell has identified 95 percent of the college-wide goal of $7 million in reductions ahead of 2025-26.”

The remaining $5 million will be recouped through “improved net tuition revenue, and additional expense management initiatives over the course of the next academic year.” While the College has announced that it will raise tuition 4.5% in 2025-26, the particulars of further savings have not been specified. These numbers suggest that after implementing this set of changes, the College will have ensured its financial stability.

Through the process, College administrators report that they “are committed to ensuring the Jewell community has the information it needs throughout this journey.” 

This story is developing.